High throughput microRNAs sequencing profile of serum exosomes in women with and without polycystic ovarian syndrome

Feng Zhang; Su-Ping Li; Tao Zhang; Bin Yu; Juan Zhang; Hai-Gang Ding; Fei-Jun Ye; Hua Yuan; Ying-Ying Ma; Hai-Tao Pan; Yao He

doi:10.7717/peerj.10998

High throughput microRNAs sequencing profile of serum exosomes in women with and without polycystic ovarian syndrome

PeerJ. 2021 Mar 12:9:e10998. doi: 10.7717/peerj.10998. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Feng Zhang^#^{1

2}, Su-Ping Li^#³, Tao Zhang^{1

2}, Bin Yu^{1

2}, Juan Zhang^{1

2}, Hai-Gang Ding^{1

2}, Fei-Jun Ye⁴, Hua Yuan^{1

2}, Ying-Ying Ma^{1

2}, Hai-Tao Pan^{1

2}, Yao He^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Shaoxing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Shaoxing, China.
² Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China.
³ Jiaxing University Affiliated Women and Children's Hospital, Jiaxing, China.
⁴ Zhoushan Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Zhoushan, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common type of endocrine disorder, affecting 5-11% of women of reproductive age worldwide. microRNAs (miRNAs) stably exist in circulating blood encapsulated in extracellular vesicles such as exosomes; therefore, serum miRNAs have the potential to serve as novel PCOS biomarkers.

Methods: To identify miRNA biomarkers that are associated with PCOS, we performed a comprehensive sequence-based characterization of the PCOS serum miRNA landscape. The serum exosomes were successfully isolated and characterized in a variety of ways. Next, sequence-based analysis was performed on serum exosomes to screen the differentially expressed miRNAs in women with and without PCOS.

Results: The sequence data revealed that the levels of 54 miRNAs significantly differed between PCOS patients and normal controls. The levels of these miRNAs were detected by RT-qPCR. The results show that hsa-miR-1299, hsa-miR-6818-5p hsa-miR-192-5p, and hsa-miR-145-5p are significantly differentially expressed in PCOS patients serum exosomes and identify these microRNAs as potential biomarkers for PCOS. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) analyses and KEGG pathway analyses of the miRNA targets further allowed to explore the potential implication of the miRNAs in PCOS.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that serum exosomal miRNAs serve important roles in PCOS and may be used as novel molecular biomarkers for clinical diagnosis.

Keywords: Biomarker; Exosomes; Serum; microRNAs; PCOS.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81701522 and 82071729), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LY19H040002), the Science Technology Department of Zhejiang Province, China (LGF21H040003, LGF21H040004, LGF19H040004, LGD20H040001, LGF18H180015) and the Health Commission of Zhejiang Province, China (2021KY375, 2021KY1154, 2021KY1157, 2020KY1001, 2018KY844, 2018KY845, 2018KY848, 2019KY229, 2019KY230, 2019RC296, 2019KY717); the Science Technology Department of Shaoxing, China (2020A13032, 2020A13034, 2020A13035, 2020A13037, 2018C30039, 2018C30042, 2018C30043, 2018C30044, 2018C30048). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.